Chapter 38: This is an important game

Jose Mourinho (jose_mourinho).

Portuguese.

He was a translator when Robson coached at Barcelona and also a translator for Van Gaal. His coaching career officially began with Portugal's domestic powerhouse Benfica, but he resigned after nine games because he disagreed with the board of directors. He then coached Portugal's domestic weak team Lelia, which allowed the team to reach fifth in the league in half a season, setting the best result in the club's history.

In January 2002, he became the head coach of Porto, another powerhouse in Portugal, helping the team get out of the bad form in the first half of the season and eventually won the third place in the league.

In 2003, Mourinho's first full season since coaching a team, he led the team to win three championships in the league, cup and league cup in one go, becoming the triple champion.

In 2004, this was a year when Mourinho shone in his coaching career. He not only helped the team defend the honor of the league championship, but also reached the final of the European Champions League, defeated Monaco three goals, and led the team to the top of Europe.

In his first season after joining Chelsea in 2005, he helped the team win the league championship after half a century.

Chelsea defended the league champion in 2006.

This is the honor Mourinho has won, but the glorious head coach is now in great trouble.

Chelsea's record in the league was poor, and they encountered the same problem as Forest in the group stage - one draw and one loss in the first two games of the group stage, and no victory. It was also the third game that we had won, saving a "match point". Some media in England compared these two people together, saying that both of them were young, both had personality and were talented. But now the representatives of the two young coaches here have encountered a severe challenge in their coaching career.

On the surface, this is the case. Nottingham Forest and Chelsea's recent performance is very unstable, sometimes good and sometimes bad. But if you look at the essence through the phenomenon, you will find that Don is much happier than Mourinho. Because the owner of the Forest team trusts Don and supports Don. The Forest team's land problem is only a competitive level and it is easy to solve it. Chelsea's problem has nothing to do with competition, and it is related to two people with rebellious personalities, Mourinho and Abramovich. Once it is related to people's personality, this problem will be unsolvable.

Since September 18th, Chelsea was tied 1:1 by weak team Rosenberg at home in the first game of the Champions League group stage, rumors about Mourinho being dismissed have not stopped. There are many news outside that Mourinho and Abramovich have a bad relationship, Mourinho and Barack and Shepchenko have a bad relationship. Mourinho and Grant have a bad relationship...

There is a lot of negative news.

But Mourinho still led the team to this day and has not been really dismissed.

Don En didn't care much about Mourinho in the past. Anyway, the media always reported his news, and you can get a rough idea by looking at it occasionally. But this time, he couldn't help but not pay attention. Because Mourinho came to his doorstep.

On November 11th, Singles' Day, Nottingham Forest will face Chelsea at home.

As soon as the Champions League was finished, some media were speculating that Forest team was slaughtering Besiktas at the same time. They began to speculate on this league between Chelsea and Forest. This game was just a confrontation between the two teams, it was not the most eye-catching, because in this round, there was also a showdown between Arsenal and Manchester United.

This schedule makes the media feel that it is very valuable for speculation.

Before Mourinho came to England from Portugal, when Tony Donn was still a "Pilgrim" in the Forest youth team. Arsenal's head coach Wenger and Manchester United coach Ferguson have always been a special scenery in the Premier League. The grudges between the two can be written into ten books, made into five movies, and then made into an electronic game product. Chinese media once described the relationship between these two people as "evil humiliation". This idiom was changed very well, just rightly showing the complex relationship between the two people - both mortal enemies, but also the person who knows each other the best. This is really complicated and cannot be simply attributed to friends or enemies, and it is not "heroes cherish heroes". This unexplained relationship is due to the different positions of their butts sitting, which is also due to the two people's personalities.

These two people are the most famous and classic rivals in the world football world.

Their verbal battle accompanied the Premier League for almost ten years, and it was not until Mourinho arrived in 2004 that the subtle relationship between the two people was broken. After Mourinho came to Chelsea, he frequently launched psychological warfare offensives. Both Wenger and Ferguson became the target of his attack, and the two heroes competed for the hegemony and became the Three Kingdoms.

The good times didn't last long. A year later, Nottingham Forest returned to the Premier League under the leadership of Tony Donne, and now the Premier League coaching bench looks even better.

Tony Donne is a man with a weird temper and personality. His sharp teeth are not inferior to his predecessors at all. His appearance made the British tabloids excited. Some people compared him to a "mad dog" - bite him whenever he sees someone, and he can't escape as long as he is an opponent.

"The Three Kingdoms" has become the "Four Heavenly Kings". Some people prefer to separate these four people into two pairs. Ferguson and Wenger represent the past ten years of the Premier League. Mourinho and Donne represent the next ten years of the Premier League, or longer... English readers and fans will never have to worry about Ferguson's retirement. They will be lonely, and tabloid reporters don't have to worry about not having any off-court outlines.

In the past, Wenger and Ferguson's confrontation would definitely attract the most attention. But this time, their popularity was overwhelmed by two young people.

There are so many reasons to make this game attract much attention.

"Madman vs. Madman".

"The Record that Embarrasses Mourinho - The Record of Unbeatable Against Tony Donne".

"The Ultimate Showdown between Mourinho and Tony Donn?" This is the title used by a London media outlet, but it is not just sensational. Many signs indicate that this game is likely to be Mourinho and Tony Donnn's last draw in the Premier League.

Mourinho's hair has become much grayer on his head recently, and his beard has become more unknowingly. His eyes are still sharp and make people feel a little awe-inspiring. He pursed his lips and pursed his lips. The expression on his face is like Greek marble carvings, with clear edges and corners.

But this actually gives people the feeling of "a hero's end is holding on."

The man who had entered Stamford Bridge with the honor and halo of "European Champions League champion coach". He is currently in an unprecedented crisis. The team's locker room has been split, and a group of people with him as the core has pulled Chelsea in half with a group of people with Abramovich. In the past, he always had a headache about how to deal with opponents on the court, but now he must have a headache about how to win the tug-of-war with the club chairman - even if it's just a phased one.

In early November, London began to frequently drizzle. The nickname "Mist City" was born because of the exhaust gas emitted from factory chimneys in London in the early days of the Industrial Revolution. Now London has no chimneys and the sky full of exhaust gas, but at this time, London is still the "Mist City" - rain and fog are hazy.

Stamford Bridge Stadium is empty and not a match day. There are no one else here except for some tourists and staff.

At this time, there was a black dot on the blue stands. He was the only person in the stadium at this time.

Jose Mourinho sat alone in the center of the "Matthew Harting" stand at Stamford Bridge. This is the north stand at Stamford Bridge, and the current home team fans stand. Opposite him is the famous south stand, which was once the "Sid" stand, the favorite place of the hardcore Blues fans.

The Portuguese wore his famous "Armani" windbreaker and sat motionless in the drizzle. He crossed his hands with his chin, like a statue of a "thinker".

He has been sitting here for ten minutes.

An hour ago, he had a private talk with the club's boss Abramovich. No one knew about this. He had no intention of telling anyone.

Abramovich's face is very bad, obviously because of the team's poor record recently. Generally speaking, when a team has poor performance, it is necessary to find the first person in charge, and it must be the head coach. No matter how brilliant the head coach has achieved before, honor can only represent the past - this is an unbreakable truth in professional football.

Unfortunately, Mourinho has now experienced this cruel truth in football.

Abramovich was a little dissatisfied with him leading the team for four years but not winning the Champions League championship he had promised.   In the fourth game of the Champions League group stage just ended, Chelsea was unable to break Schalke Zero Four's goal away.   Abramovich's favorite Shepchenko sat on the bench for 90 minutes.

During the talks, Abramovich asked Mourinho why he did not consider playing Pischampchenko when the team was unable to start the attack. Mourinho's answer was a bit tough: "The Ukrainian felt muscle soreness when he warmed up before the game, Mr. Chairman." The fools knew that this was an excuse. What made Abramovich angry was that Mourinho treated him as a fool, but he suppressed his anger and asked about things in the league, especially an opponent that was about to face that made Chelsea feel embarrassed. When Chelsea swept England, the only team that had never won - Nottingham Forest.

This is a record that makes all Chelsea people feel uncomfortable. Mourinho is the same. He is a proud person and cannot accept the reality that he cannot defeat a person like Don En for three years.

"I promise to win this game, Mr. Chairman." This time his answer was something Abramovich liked to hear.

In fact, it doesn't matter if he doesn't promise. Anyway, if he loses to Tang En, his life will definitely not be easy.

But to be honest, this talk has made Mourinho feel even more gloomy recently, just like the weather in London now. He knows what kind of person his immediate boss is, because he is also that kind of person. The fatal problem is that people with this personality cannot work together for too long, otherwise there will be many conflicts. Big or small. After accumulation, it will eventually become the beginning of collapse.

And he had already heard the sound of gravel falling from the cornerstone.

Crack, crack...

Mourinho looked up at the roof of the stadium above. The raindrops hit it and made a dense sound. Only then did he notice that the rain was getting heavier and heavier.

A man wearing a yellow raincoat appeared under the stands. He found that there were more people in the empty stands. He stared at them for a while and found that they were the team's head coach. He quickly waved his hand and shouted: "Sir! Mr. Mourinho! Why are you here?"

Mourinho got up from his seat, walked to the railing, and said in the rain falling from the sky, "Ah, I suddenly wanted to take a walk, so I came here. Have I disturbed your work?"

The other party waved his hand: "No. No. At all. I'm just here to patrol." He saw that the rain wet Mourinho's hair and coat, and pointed to the sky, "Rain, sir."

Mourinho leaned his head down toward the sky, and the cold rain hit his face, but he didn't hide, just squinted.

"Thank you, the rain is not heavy... Then I'll say goodbye. Goodbye..." He glanced at the other person's face covered under the raincoat. "...Mr. Scott Lawrence."

The other party obviously did not expect that he, an ordinary player, turf maintenance worker, could call out his name, and was stunned in excitement. When he came back, Mourinho had already left without a trace.

Scott Lawrence looked around the stadium stands, and no black figure of Mourinho was seen in any corner. The conversation was gone. Stamford Bridge returned to quiet again, with nothing but the rustling sound of rain.

Although this ordinary stadium turf maintenance worker is also a member of the entire club, he is the most ordinary person. The work they do is the most important. No one will mention their names anywhere. He did not expect that Mourinho, the land manager who had never met before, could call out his name accurately.

I remembered the way he looked when I saw Mourinho below just now - he was almost wrapped in a black Armani windbreaker, sitting alone in the huge stands, and the black dot in the middle of the huge blue seemed very small.

Lawrence remembered various rumors in the market recently.

This man's days at Stamford Bridge seem to be in the countdown? Abramovich is his boss and the person who pays him a salary, but he is a Chelsea fan, if he has to choose.  The one he would rather leave is Abramovich than this man.

But what can he do? He is just an ordinary turf maintenance worker on the court. He cannot influence the club's decisions. He cannot play football and help the team win and get the head coach out of the crisis of trust.

All I can do is... I wish you good luck, Mr. Mourinho.

When Mourinho led Chelsea to Nottingham the next day, the media flocked to him and surrounded him, and many concerns of everyone were thrown at him.

"Mr. Mourinho, is the news outside that you are about to be dismissed?"

"I don't want to answer questions from the future, at least now I'm the head coach of this team."

"Mr. Mourinho. Rumor has it that you have a deep conflict with Abramovich..."

"We have a happy cooperation. There is no contradiction at all. Of course, he is the chairman of the club and he has the right to express some opinions on his team."

“About Grant…”

"You have to ask him about his question."

"Talk about the game against the Forests. Mr. Mourinho. Will Shepchenko play? And you have not defeated Tony Don..."

Hearing this question, Mourinho stopped and pushed out. He stood down and looked at the reporter who asked the question. He had a little impression that he seemed to be a sports reporter from a local newspaper in Nottingham.

"The Ukrainians may or may not play. As for I have never beaten Tony Donne? Then everything will become history." He added, "It's just tomorrow night."

After saying that, he no longer answered any questions, broke through the crowds of reporters and entered the hotel where he stayed with the team.

A group of reporters were unwilling to give up, so they raised the camera in their hands and took photos of Mourinho's back.

Under the flash, the back of the black Armani windbreaker was the only focus. Whenever the flash light came on, he was the most dazzling person, but when the flash went out, he merged into the black background, which was difficult to tell.

In the end, the creator of the Chelsea miracle empire gradually entered the darkness that the flash could no longer be illuminated.
Chapter completed!